Fresh Fish: Why adding Derek Fisher was a good idea

Thunder fan Brad Rogers had some thoughts on the surreal sight of seeing lifetime Laker Derek Fisher get a standing ovation in Oklahoma City.

It’s been almost 48 hours since the acquisition of Derek Fisher and I have to admit… it still feels kind of weird. Like in the sense where the girl you’ve had a crush on for years walks right up to you, gives you a five second frencher and you say to yourself “Well that was weird.” You don’t ask questions, you be thankful, and you take it for what it is.

Within two hours of Fish signing his contract he was in Thunder white and sporting No. 37. Next thing you know he’s running point. It all happened so fast that I’m still trying to comprehend exactly what I saw last night. So what to make of it?

Well, five points and one assist in 19 minutes isn’t exactly a killer stat line, but aside from KD, Russ, and Harden the Thunder don’t really need another prolific scorer. After all last years playoff push wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for guys like Mr. “+/-,” Nick Collison.

In “The Book of Basketball” by Bill Simmons, The Sports Guy often talks about Bill Russell and what made him great. It wasn’t his dominance on the court, it was that he made those around him great which, judging from last night, Fisher did after not even knowing the team long enough to learn a pregame handshake.

Fisher is just what the Thunder need at a time they need him most. It was getting to the point where the team was trying to win on talent alone. They needed a factor to bring them back down to Earth (queue “Hail to the Chief). Fisher isn’t intimidating because he’s an outstanding athlete; he’s intimidating because he’s the president of the NBA and has 5 reasons as to why he’s a winner. He’s Eric Maynor with a few more years and a few more rings. Not to mention he has a Professor X like quality over even the biggest egos in the NBA (not going to name any names here).

Like many out there in Thunder Nation, I saw a lot of potential even as Fisher walked over to the scorers’ table to check in for the very first time. I’m even excited for the new Brian Davis-isms that will stem from this; i.e. “That was ofFISHal,” or “I believe he just told him to ‘Go Fish.’

Maybe I’m being a little overanxious, but the Thunder looked good for a solid four quarters Wednesday night, which can’t be said for the other 33 victories. In the words of Three Dog Night, Joy to the fishes in the deep blue see. Joy to you and me.

I wish we would have signed a new TV host too. The only thing I like about Davis is the little fact that he came with the team and all. The rest of his trip is just somewhere between humiliating and embarrassing.

Championship teams play with savy and in the NBA, its not about being the tallest or fastest or even having the prettiest shot, its about knowing what to do with your skills and how to maximize what you have. Last year we lost Ron Adams, but we also lost Kevin Ollie. Maybe some of Westbrook's defensive regression is due to not having an experienced veteran guard to help him mature? Westbrook's eFG% against has actually dramatically improved but that might be due to the fact that the league overall is shooting worse than previous years. We won't know for a couple weeks how big Fisher's impact is until we have a larger enough sample size.

You know Brian Davis is practically drooling over the possibilities: efFISHient, sufFISHient, beneFISHal, sacriFISHal, proFISHient . . . . and I'm sure the phrase "hook, line and sinker" will be offered very soon!

@C_Dub Well, obviously, Presti read the post (yours?) from the other day showing the average age of every championship team over the past 20 years. He fixed the discrepancy you so astutely pointed out by immediately signing Fisher.

Westbrook is doing so great. I have a hard time figuring out the negative feedback. I guess it is mostly that his demeanor or something in the personality sphere just lands him on hte bad vibe dock. He is unquestionably one of the very best players holding court at the 1 in the game today. He can do about anything about anytime he wants to, including the thing he gets no credit for which is facilitate the team. Smile more Russel.

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[…] same March 15 NBA trade deadline day, Derek Fisher was unceremoniously traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and although he didn’t officially report to the team until the next week, once he did, it […]